The Handwriting on the Wall
1 eKing Belshazzar fmade a great feast for a thousand of his glords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
2 eBelshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that hthe vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father1 had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in hthe golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and ipraised the jgods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 kImmediately lthe fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw mthe hand as it wrote. 6 nThen the king’s color changed, oand his thoughts alarmed him; phis limbs gave way, and qhis knees knocked together. 7 rThe king called loudly to bring in rthe enchanters, the sChaldeans, and tthe astrologers. The king declared2 to the wise men of Babylon, u“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and vshall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but wthey could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly xalarmed, and his ncolor changed, and his ylords were perplexed.
10 The queen,3 because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, z“O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you aor your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom bin whom is the spirit of the holy gods.4 In the days of your father, clight and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—dmade him chief of the magicians, renchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 ebecause an excellent spirit, knowledge, and funderstanding fto interpret dreams, explain riddles, and gsolve problems were found in this Daniel, hwhom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”
Overcoming the World
1 kEveryone who believes that lJesus is the Christ has been born of God, and meveryone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 nBy this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For othis is the love of God, that we pkeep his commandments. And qhis commandments are not burdensome. 4 For reveryone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—sour faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes tthat Jesus is the Son of God?
Testimony Concerning the Son of God
6 This is he who came uby water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And vthe Spirit is the one who testifies, because wthe Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 xIf we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ythat he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God zhas the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ahas made him a liar, bbecause he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us ceternal life, and dthis life is in his Son. 12 eWhoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Jesus Heals Many
38 gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now hSimon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and irebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 kAnd demons also came out of many, lcrying, “You are mthe Son of God!” But he rebuked them and kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was nthe Christ.
Jesus Preaches in Synagogues
42 oAnd when it was day, he departed and went pinto a desolate place. And qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, r“I must spreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching tin the synagogues of Judea.1
